experimental // aspect ratio 1:1 // Full HD // 1 min 20 secs // all parts by Olaf Lenz (2021)
A cinematic improvisation during the lockdown period dealing with freedom of mind. Shot on one afternoon the short presents social behavior of a group of pigeons that are spending time beside a freeway crossing. The story evolves from being part of a peer group to pairing and joining as two to finally something beyond.
review:
“In the stagnant sea of prepackaged images, FREE BIRDS by Olaf Lenz bursts forth as an anarchic explosion- an artwork that rejects rules and carves its own creative space beyond any coded grammar: This is not a film in the traditional sense: it immerses us in a visual and sonic flow that challenges perception, dismantles narrative structures, and reinvents cinematic gesture as an act of liberation.
Lenz does not direct; he composes, deconstructs, and takes risks. Every choice, every cut, every silence speaks the language of pure experimentation, turning the image into a field of poetic and political tension. FREE BIRDS does not aim to “communicate” a message; it becomes a living experience, an unstable vibration between dream and matter, between abstract impulse and emotional vision.
What strikes is not only the radical aesthetic but the consistency with which Lenz pursues a vision of cinema as a territory to explore, not to decorate. In a present saturated with predictable narratives, FREE BIRDS opens cracks, disorients with clarity; and above all restores to the creative act its original urgency:
For this reason, WILD FILMWAKER is proud to support this project with conviction: because films like FRIE BIRDS do not merely exist- they challenge, contaminate, renew. They are living experiments, essential for imagining still-possible cinematic futures.” (Review by WILD FILMMAKER 2025)
- Honorable Mention at YOUR WAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, October 2023 (https://www.instagram.com/p/CyyYu-4oVoU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
- Best Micro Short at NEW JERSEY FILM AWARDS, August 2023 (http://njfilmawards.com/2023-monthly-winners/ & https://youtu.be/ofh_wanmMrQ?si=E_lPf6ZzzmPkIsQN [1:13])
- Exceptional Achievement in Silent Film category at MULTI DIMENSION INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL, July 3, 2023 (https://mdiff.net/results-july-2023/)
- Best Super Short Film & Best Arthouse Short Film at 8 & HALFILM AWARDS 5th EDITION, August 2023 (https://8andhalfilmawards.com/winners-august-fifth-ed-1)
- Best Poetry Film & Best International Experimental Video at 8 & HALFILM AWARDS – SPECIAL EDITION IN CANNES 2024, May 2024 (https://wildfilmmaker.sviluppo.host/winners-8-halfilm-awards-special-edition-in-cannes-2024/)
- Winner at NEWYORKER INDIE CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS 2024 (https://wildfilmmaker.sviluppo.host/winners-newyorker-indie-critics-choice-awards-2024/)
- Best Mobile Film at BEYOND THE SCREEN FESTIVAL 2024 (https://beyondthescreenfestival.com/category/winners/february-august-2024-winners/)
- Best Mobile Film at NICOMEDIA FILM AWARDS Autumn 2024 (https://www.nicomediafilmawards.com/autumn-2024-winners / https://www.instagram.com/p/DDZMcomtBCz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
- Best Short Silent Film at BLUEZ DOLPHINS film festival 2025 (https://www.instagram.com/p/DGhzcyzpn7C/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
- Nominee at SWEDISH INT. FILM FESTIVAL 2025 JANUARY Season (https://www.instagram.com/p/DGwRMRkCZ-h/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
- Best Video Poetry 2025, Best Arthouse Filmmaker & Best Original Editing at Taormina Film Meeting Awards 2025 by WILD FILMMAKER (https://wildfilmmaker.com/winners-taormina-film-meeting-awards-2025/)
- Best First Time Filmmaker category at 4th DIMENSION INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHOxouYCYgu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
- Best Micro Film at SWEDISH INT FILM FESTIVAL Jan 2025 (https://www.thesiff.com/january-january-2025/)










